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Female Air Force pilot to fly F-35 at Super Bowl LVI

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Posted at 7:33 PM, Feb 04, 2022
and last updated 2022-02-04 21:54:42-05

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (KSTU) — Major Kristin "Beo" Wolfe, who has been Commander of the F-35A Lightning II Demonstration Team out of Hill Air Force Base in Utah, will pilot an F-35 as part of a Heritage Flight at the Super Bowl.

“It’ll be really exciting just for me as a pilot to see how it all comes together," said Maj. Wolfe.

She has been serving in the Air Force for more than a decade and comes to the F-35 Demo Team after serving combat assignments with the F-35 and F-22 Raptor.

“It’s (F-35) the Air Forces’ newest fighter that we have. It’s the most advanced technologically. We’re still getting new airplanes at Hill Air Force Base as we speak so it's really cool to get the latest technology straight off the line from Fort Worth delivered to Hill,” she said
Maj. Wolfe willbe flying alongside other specialized, iconic aircraft in a "five-ship formation."

“I’ve never flown the five-ship with all four of us plus a warbird in it so that will be entertaining and also challenging," said Maj. Wolfe, who will be flying her first official flyover event in an F-35.

“It’s much more complicated than say a four-ship of just F-35s doing a flyover for, you know, the Utah stadium. It's more complex because it is a five-ship of all dissimilar airplanes, so all five airplanes fly differently, as different airspeeds as well as they’re all a different wingspan, different length and that kind of stuff so to make a formation like that seem symmetrical and actually look good, that is challenging in itself and then to actually nail the timing for a flyover is really complex.”

Maj. Wolfe plans to have two practice days in Los Angeles. The planes in the flyover will also be outfitted with livestreaming cameras.

This story was originally published by Brian Schnee on fox13now.com.